How hard does the Mighty Wind push you?
We all know that the Mighty Wind slowly pushes you left or right depending on wind
direction in a Sandstorm, but how fast is this movement exactly, and what does it depend on?
This video is all about the Mighty Wind mechanic, and while small, there's
actually plenty to talk about. By default, if you're just
standing still on the ground, the Mighty Wind will constantly push you with
an acceleration of 0.06 pixels per tick-squared, or roughly 8.23 meters per second-squared
/ 18.408 miles per hour per second. This is equal to exactly 75% of the base acceleration of
a Terraria player, so this is pretty powerful. Note, though, that this is purely acceleration,
not velocity. The Mighty Wind does nothing to affect your top running speed - walking either
against or with the wind eventually gets you to the same top speed - but the time to
get to that speed is what changes. That is its acceleration working against or with you.
However, despite that, the Mighty Wind itself still has a top speed. After all, if
you are standing still, the Mighty Wind won't just keep accelerating you in one
direction. So, if you aren't doing anything, the wind alone will never accelerate you past 0.06
pixels per tick, or 0.3 miles per hour. This "top wind speed" is the same speed that you would reach
after 1 tick of being accelerated by it, and it is what you experience when just idle in the wind.
That is just the Mighty Wind's base power though; it can be further strengthened or
weakened by three factors - wind speed, movement status, and vertical mobility.
If the weather wind speed is greater than 25 miles per hour, the Mighty Wind becomes
37% stronger. This is obviously to replicate the power of a stronger, faster wind.
Then, if you are moving yourself - that is, holding left or right on your keyboard or
controller - the wind becomes 20% weaker. This is to make moving through the Mighty Wind
slightly less painful, and possibly to replicate the effect of "fighting" against the wind.
Lastly, if you're moving vertically - that is, either airborne or climbing a slope
- the Mighty Wind becomes a whopping 50% stronger. This effect was likely added to
simulate how much stronger the wind would feel if you were in the air or running up a cliff.
All of these effects combine multiplicatively, affecting both the wind's acceleration
and the wind's own "max speed". Here is a chart if you want it for some reason.
Looking at all these possibilities, you'll notice that if you're airborne and the wind
speed is greater than 25mph, the acceleration of the wind is actually greater than your player's
base acceleration. That means without accessories or buffs, the wind should actually push you
backwards, even if you're running against it. Luckily, this doesn't happen, due to a change in
the Mighty Wind made in 1.4. If you're holding down A or D, the Mighty Wind's acceleration
is hard capped at 0.072 pixels/tick^2, or 90% of your player's base acceleration. This makes
being pushed back while running against the wind basically impossible unless you have some slowness
debuff, making it a whole lot less frustrating. This change was definitely welcome
considering how frustrating the Mighty Wind was back during the days of 1.3.
Back in 1.3, not only was the Mighty Wind stronger - having a base acceleration of
0.07 pixels per tick^2 versus 0.06 - it also was not capped as mentioned previously.
This meant that it was almost impossible to accelerate against the wind if it was
stronger than 25mph (even when grounded), and if you were airborne the wind would always
push you backwards unless you had movement buffs. If you remember getting hung up on jumps
like this during Sandstorms in 1.3, this is why. The acceleration while
airborne was simply that powerful back then. Let's just say that I'm thankful
that this is no longer an issue. So, that is the power of the Mighty Wind.
Numerically, it's actually a relatively strong force, though it's still not enough to stop the
player after 1.4. It's noticeable, but not really a nuisance, especially once you get movement gear
like the Magiluminescence or Lightning Boots. Overall, i think it's a solid 4/10.
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